Couples clamor to mount where Mona was moanin’

Mieko Shimizu

10 years ago

Mona Yamamoto

The scandal over the extramarital dalliance between TV news anchor Mona Yamamoto, 32, and Yomiuri Giants player Tomohiro Nioka, also 32, has proved a windfall not only for the vernacular tabloids, but for the hotel in Tokyo’s Gotanda district where the alleged whoopee-making took place.

Evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai (July 18) does not identify the hotel by name, but provides a photograph with the signboard obscured. It reports the room used by the couple cost 9,800 yen.

“The hotel is priced for the average customer, with rooms ranging from 5,500 yen for two hours to 8,800 yen for overnight,” notes a writer who covers the sex industry. “Most of the time business is sporadic, but due to the latest uproar, the place has been running at full capacity. It’s got an illuminated Jacuzzi and provides all kinds of amenities, so it’s popular with females too. Couples have been waiting up to half an hour to get in the rooms.”

Nikkan Gendai’s reporter visited Gotanda and attempted to obtain comments from the hotel’s staff, but they politely begged off on the grounds they were too busy attending to their guests.

One employee, however, made certain remarks to the media (which we will refrain from spreading) that might further besmirch Ms. Yamamoto’s reputation, if that’s possible.

“There’s a rumor going around that he was fired after talking to the media,” the aforementioned writer tells the newspaper. “If there’s one thing hotel staff aren’t permitted to do, it’s blab about customers.”

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.